GOOGLE , in collaboration with the FBI and Lumen, has disrupted NetNut, a large residential proxy network that illegally routed internet traffic through compromised home devices. This operation follows a previous action against the IPIDEA network and aims to dismantle such malicious proxy networks used by cybercriminals for fraud, account takeovers, and DDoS attacks. NetNut involved around 2 million compromised devices, with owners often unaware of their misuse.
Google advised users against applications that offer money for bandwidth sharing, highlighting the risks of building malicious proxy networks. Cybersecurity experts have linked NetNut to Alarum Technologies, which claims user consent for bandwidth sharing, a point disputed by researchers. While the disruption has weakened NetNut significantly, the threat remains due to the prevalent resale of compromised infrastructure by proxy providers.